Posts by Vanderhoven7

42

Should a Christian celebrate Christmas?

by Samsie in

hello, i'm new here and have woken up to the real truth concerning the org.

i'm sort of fading away at the moment.... i need help with something, i used to as a child celebrate christmas and have always had amazing memories of it (my husband hasn't as he was born into the org) but i gave it up when i learnt the "truth".

my interest was only in pleasing god and still is.

Vanderhoven7

Imagine being disfellowshipped and losing touch with your family and being marked for destruction at Armageddon because you unrepentantly celebrate Christ's birth on a particular day even if it's the wrong day. There is no excuse for creating and enforcing the commands of men. Watchtower religion is absolutely vain going beyond what is written and claiming moral superiority to others who love and serve Jesus Christ.

They do this because they have no fellowship with, nor do they know God's Son. Yes they know some things about Jesus, but they do not know Him. They never communicate with Him. There is something wrong when someone says they know someone but never have spoken to them. They "know" and have a "relationship" with Jesus Christ in the same way as they know and have a relationship with the apostle James or Peter.

Imagine, they cannot even say:

"Thank you Jesus for giving up your glory in heaven and taking on human flesh for our salvation!"

"Thank you Jesus for dying on Calvary for my sins; for taking my punishment!"

"I love you Jesus!"

68

GIVE AN EXAMPLE of the best writing you've ever read

by Terry in

is there one line of prose or poetry that stopped you dead in your tracks and haunted your mind for days on end?

is there a line, a paragraph or a book that feeds your soul and there is no end to its craving?

share it with all of us.

Vanderhoven7

The Lord is my Shepherd....

You know the rest.

42

Should a Christian celebrate Christmas?

by Samsie in

hello, i'm new here and have woken up to the real truth concerning the org.

i'm sort of fading away at the moment.... i need help with something, i used to as a child celebrate christmas and have always had amazing memories of it (my husband hasn't as he was born into the org) but i gave it up when i learnt the "truth".

my interest was only in pleasing god and still is.

Vanderhoven7

"And in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Matthew 15:9

A perfect descriptor of Watchtower religion.

The Galatians were in danger of going back under the law for salvation. The Watchtower insists you go under their law for your salvation. You disobey their manmade laws and you will be disfellowshipped and shunned and lose your hope of surviving Armageddon.

Where did Jesus say you shouldn't celebrate Christmas or birthdays or Mother's Day?

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. II Cor.3:17

Where the Spirit of the Lord is not, you are in bondage to men and their man-made rules and man-made salvation.

49

Military Service Confusion

by Sea Breeze in

can someone please call these three guys and tell them that the first gentile christian was an active duty roman military officer named cornelius.

these guys have been locked up for 25 years!.

Vanderhoven7

I believe it was the Baptist who encouraged the soldiers to be content with their wages. But same difference.

42

Should a Christian celebrate Christmas?

by Samsie in

hello, i'm new here and have woken up to the real truth concerning the org.

i'm sort of fading away at the moment.... i need help with something, i used to as a child celebrate christmas and have always had amazing memories of it (my husband hasn't as he was born into the org) but i gave it up when i learnt the "truth".

my interest was only in pleasing god and still is.

Vanderhoven7

Samsie,

Welcome to the forum.!

Thank God you are awake and still believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour of mankind who loves you to death, literally.

Let me tell you that celebrating Christ's birth is biblical. The angels celebrated and the shepherds celebrated. Do we need to know the right day of the year to celebrate..No we do not. You are free to join the angels any day of the year. And do not stop at at his birth. Celebrate His perfect life; celebrate His words, His sacrificial death His promises and His gift of life with your name on it.

Reclaim evey day of the year for Jehovah and don't worry about what pagans thought or did thousands of years ago. Remember what He did and act on that.

Only the pagans and the religious rulers refused to celebrate His birth

Oh yes, and celebrate you children's birthdays as well giving thanks to God for them.

68

GIVE AN EXAMPLE of the best writing you've ever read

by Terry in

is there one line of prose or poetry that stopped you dead in your tracks and haunted your mind for days on end?

is there a line, a paragraph or a book that feeds your soul and there is no end to its craving?

share it with all of us.

Vanderhoven7

Just read this tonight. Someone had posted an incomplete version and the author responded...

Update: from writer Suzanne Reynolds :

L This is my poem in its entirety..

*************************

SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL....

.... but she didn't know what that meant.

When she was a little girl

they told her she was beautiful

but it had no meaning

in her world of bicycles

and pigtails

and adventures in make-believe.

Later, she hoped she was beautiful

as boys started taking notice

of her friends

and phones rang for

Saturday night dates.

She felt beautiful on her wedding day,

hopeful with her

new life partner by her side

but, later,

when her children called

her beautiful,

she was often exhausted,

her hair messily tied back,

no make up,

wide in the waist

where it used to be narrow;

she just couldn't take it in.

Over the years, as she tried,

in fits and starts,

to look beautiful,

she found other things

to take priority,

like bills

and meals,

as she and her life partner

worked hard

to make a family,

to make ends meet,

to make children into adults,

to make a life.

Now,

she sat.

Alone.

Her children grown,

her partner flown,

and she couldn't remember

the last time

she was called beautiful.

But she was.

It was in every line on her face,

in the strength of her arthritic hands,

the ampleness that had

a million hugs imprinted

on its very skin,

and in the jiggly thighs and

thickened ankles

that had run her race for her.

She had lived her life with a loving

and generous heart,

had wrapped her arms

around so many to

to give them comfort and peace.

Her ears had

heard both terrible news

and lovely songs,

and her eyes

had brimmed with,

oh, so many tears,

they were now bright

even as they dimmed.

She had lived and she was.

And because she was,

she was made beautiful.

Photo credit: Nina Djerff

Model: Marit Rannveig Haslestad

25

Did they read this today at the meeting?

by Jerryh in

.

Vanderhoven7

Can we get a readable copy of the text?

15

The Morning Star was given me last year - 'hidden manna' now available for your review

by JohnRossStar in

hi - quite the introduction, huh?

so the 'morning star' is christ himself and he has guided my thinking and studies to uncover where exactly the wtb&ts went off track, offending jehovah greatly and causing him to 'abandon his sanctuary'.

i've posted the information on reddit jwexwatchtower - please study the articles carefully and put them to the test versus scripture.

Vanderhoven7

The Watchtower Society got off the rails when Rutherford took over and crashed and totalled in 1954.

41

Fascinating Quotations of The Faithful Slave

by Vanderhoven7 in

do you have any amazing quotations that have been produced by the faithful slave over the years?.

remember it's important that we should learn to love and value truth for it’s own sake; to respect and honor it by owning and acknowledging it wherever we find it and by whomever presented.

a truth presented by the faithful slave himself is just as true as a truth stated by god.. share some of those amazing quotations that have fascinated you.

Vanderhoven7

"The ark of salvation that we enter is not a literal ark but is God's organization." (Watchtower, June 1, 1950, p. 176)

Just as Noah and his God-fearing family were preserved in the ark, survival of individuals today depends on their faith and their loyal association with the earthly part of Jehovah’s universal organization." Watchtower 2006 May 15 p.22 "Are You Prepared for Survival?"

"But Jehovah's servants already belong to the only organization that will survive the end of this wicked system of things." Watchtower 2007 Dec 15 p.14

WT56 8/1 p. 473 par. 15 Delivering Satan’s Death Notice
So the proclaiming of this message under these adverse conditions serves a good purpose in that it puts the message-bearers to a test. Will they obey Jehovah God and continue to proclaim God’s ordained message or will they water it down, sugar-coat it with compromise, or will they quit altogether and run for cover? Will they stick to the organization Jehovah is now using in the earth or will they attempt to break away from the theocratic organization and set up one of their own design and making

41

Fascinating Quotations of The Faithful Slave

by Vanderhoven7 in

do you have any amazing quotations that have been produced by the faithful slave over the years?.

remember it's important that we should learn to love and value truth for it’s own sake; to respect and honor it by owning and acknowledging it wherever we find it and by whomever presented.

a truth presented by the faithful slave himself is just as true as a truth stated by god.. share some of those amazing quotations that have fascinated you.

Vanderhoven7

Seems to be a problem posting on this thread.

"What does God require of those who will reside forever upon his Paradise earth? Jesus Christ identified a first requirement when he said in prayer to his Father: 'This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.' Many have found the second requirement more difficult. It is to obey God's laws. The third requirement is that we be associated with God's channel, his organization. The fourth requirement is connected with loyalty. God requires that prospective subjects of his Kingdom support his government by loyally advocating his Kingdom rule to others." (Watchtower, February 15, 1983 p. 12)

"In this way only lovers of God and of his family, his organization, will survive and enter into the cleansed earth that is to be transformed into a glorious Paradise." (Watchtower, December 15, 1982 p. 27 - Clothing Ourselves With Love and Wearing It)

"Any person who wants to survive into God's righteous new order urgently needs to come into a right relationship with Jehovah and His earthly organization now." (Watchtower, November 15, 1981 pp. 16-17)

"And while now the witness yet includes the invitation to come to Jehovah's organization for salvation, the time no doubt will come when the message takes on a harder tone, like a 'great war cry.'"
(Watchtower, November 15, 1981 p. 21)

"Your attitude toward the wheatlike annointed 'brothers' of Christ and the treatment you accord them will be the determining factor as to whether you go into 'everlasting life.'” (Watchtower, August 1, 1981 p. 26)

"To keep in relationship with 'our Savior God,'the 'great crowd 'needs to remain united with the remnant of spiritual Israelites.'"
(Watchtower, November 15, 1979 p. 27)

"If we want to assure our everlasting salvation, we must stay within the bounds of Jehovah God's loving provision associated with his visible organization, presided over by his High Priest."
(Watchtower, August 15, 1967 p. 503)

"To understand the Bible for their salvation they had to have it explained through God's organization." Watchtower, November 15, 1961 p. 692